Yana Rocks

Yana holds an outcrop of crystalline karst, black limestone weathered into two towers standing well above the surrounding forest: Bhairaveshwara Shikhara at around a hundred and twenty metres and Mohini Shikhara at about ninety. The rock is dark and deeply fissured, quite unlike the pale limestone karst elsewhere in India, and a cave at the base of the larger tower holds a Shiva lingam with a spring dripping onto it, treated as swayambhu. A path of about half a kilometre climbs to the base through evergreen forest. The setting is dense Western Ghats jungle with hornbills and monkeys.

The landscape

• The two monoliths - black limestone towers rising from forest.
• The cave shrine - a lingam under a dripping spring at the base.
• The forest walk - a short climb through Western Ghats evergreen.
• The fissured rock - deeply weathered crystalline karst surfaces.

When to go

October to February; the monsoon makes the path slippery and leech-ridden though the forest is at its greenest. Shivratri brings a fair to the cave shrine.

Practical notes

The walk is short but steep and slippery in the wet. Facilities are minimal. The site is remote from the main Karnataka circuits and needs a car.

Nearby

Gokarna lies west; Dandeli is north.